Alert & Warning

Success in saving lives and property is dependent upon clear and timely dissemination of emergency information to persons in threatened areas. Pierce County Emergency Management has various systems in place to ensure that residents are notified in the event of a small or major emergency.

These systems include:

Pierce County ALERT

Pierce County ALERT is a free service that allows you to sign up and receive notifications about emergencies that may affect the locations you care about. This service allows fire, police and other agencies dealing with emergency response to send out accurate and up-to-date information that they feel residents should be informed on.

Receive alerts on up to 10 different devices such as your cell phone, home phone, email, and more. Choose up to five locations you want to be notified about such as your residence, workplace, children’s school and more.

Mount Rainier Lahar Warning Sirens

The
Mount Rainier Lahar Siren project is part of an overall emergency
communications system for Pierce County. The focus for the sirens is to
warn the residents in the Puyallup River Valley of the need to evacuate
due to a volcanic disaster from the Mount Rainier Volcano.

When imminent volcanic danger threatens, the sirens will be activated.
Citizens will be advised to evacuate the valley floor and head to higher
ground by vehicle or foot. The outdoor lahar warning sirens are tested
at noon on the first Monday of every month. The sirens will wail for
approximately two to five minutes during the testing. They will continue
to cycle on and off during a real alert.

Emergency Alert System

The Emergency Alert System (EAS) is one of the many means used by alerting authorities to send warnings via broadcast, cable, satellite and wire line communications pathways. The EAS is also used when all other means of alerting the public are unavailable, providing an added layer of resiliency to the suite of available emergency communication tools.

NOAA All Hazard Weather Radio

The NOAA Weather Radio
(NWR) system is an "All Hazards" radio network, making it your single
source for comprehensive weather and all hazard emergency information.
In conjunction with federal, state and local emergency managers and
other public officials, NWR also broadcasts warning and post-event
information for all types of hazards, including natural (such as
earthquakes or avalanches), environmental (such as chemical releases or
oil spills) and public safety (such as AMBER alerts or 911 Telephone
outages).

Commercial Mobile Alert System

Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS)
is a partnership between FEMA, the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) and wireless carriers to enhance public safety. CMAS allows public
safety authorities to use FEMA’s IPAWS Open Platform for Emergency
Networks (IPAWS-OPEN) to send geographically targeted, text-like
Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) to the public.

WEAs will relay
presidential, AMBER and imminent threat alerts to mobile phones using
cellular broadcast technology that will not get backlogged during times
of emergency when wireless voice and data services are highly congested.

AM 1580 Emergency Radio System

The AM
1580 Emergency Radio is an All Hazard information tool used in the
Puyallup River Valley portion of Pierce County. This tool will be used
for Mount Rainier volcanic hazards as well as any local or regional
emergencies where it is beneficial to transmit information to residents.
This Emergency Information Radio Station can be heard from the City of
Orting, through the Puyallup River Valley to the City of Fife.

See Something, Say Something

Report suspicious activity to local law enforcement or call 9-1-1 if it is an emergency. Emergency Alert System
The Emergency Alert System (EAS)
is one of the many means used by alerting authorities to send warnings
via broadcast, cable, satellite and wire line communications pathways.
The EAS is also used when all other means of alerting the public are
unavailable, providing an added layer of resiliency to the suite of
available emergency communication tools.

Integrated Public Alert and Warning System

FEMA’s Integrated Public Alert and Warning System
(IPAWS) program provides an internet-based capability for federal,
state, territorial, tribal and local authorities to use in order to
issue critical public alerts and warnings.

IPAWS improves
alert and warning capabilities by allowing alerting authorities to
deliver their message from a single portal to multiple communication
pathways. Two of these pathways are The Emergency Alert System (EAS) and Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS).